Saturday, 26 August: Marty, Pete and I took a run through the Otways to Lavers Hill and then along the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay. We pulled in to the Gellibrand store for morning tea. As always, we received a friendly greeting from Maria and Peter even managed to find someone to talk ukulele playing with!

From Gellibrand to Apollo Bay the road was wet in patches, but not at all slippery if you kept off the mossy bits. There was surprisingly little traffic going in our direction along the GOR and we made good time to Apollo Bay. After lunch at the Apollo Bay bakery we headed to Skenes Creek and the turned inland to Forrest. The road was quite wet and greasy most of the way. We also got a bit of light rain along this stretch. In these conditions the Spyder was in its element and Peter could have easily left the two big Kwakas for dead. From Forrest onwards it was dry and sunny. We stopped in at Phil R’s  place at Deans Marsh for a cuppa and then headed home. Despite the weather not being that great it was quite an enjoyable run and Peter showed that he has really mastered the Spyder – especially in tight, twisty conditions.

As an aside, I blew a fuse in the power cable to the Venture heated jacket liner at the start of the ride. Fortunately I had a spare merino jumper in my bag, so didn’t get cold. However, it’s an important lesson and I will always make sure that I have an extra outer layer with me in cold conditions when I’m depending on heated gear, just in case it fails.